Resilient wheel for motor-vehicles



T. C. DOBBINS.

HESILIENT WHEEL FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION'FILED DEC.9, 19.19.

Patented Feb'jzz, 1921.

INVENTYQR. @M

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES APATENT orifice.v

TEMOTHY C. DOBBINS, 01E' LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THEDOBBINS WHEEL COMPANY, 0F DENVER, COLORDO, A CORPORATION 0F COLORADO.

RESLIENT WHEEL lIf'OR VIOTOR-VEHICLES. y

Specification of Letters Patent. Paten-ted Feb, 22, 1921.

Application filed December 9, 1919. serial No. 343,531.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, TIMOTHY C. DOBBINs, a citizen of the United States,now residing at Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, State of California,have made a certain new and useful invention Relating to ResilientllVheels for Motor-Vehicles, of which the following is a specification,taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, which forms part ofthis specification.

rlhe invention in this application which is a continuation in part of myco-pending application, Serial No. 204,679, filed November 30, 1917,that is, contains subject-matter Ataken therefrom, relates especially toresilient wheels for motor vehicles,v such as automobiles, motor trucks,and the like, in which a wheel center or hub member is resiiientlyconnected with an inclosing wheel rim member through a pneumatic orother resilient cushioning` device, while at the same time these twowheel members are provided with lateral guiding devices, such, forinstance, as inclosing casing plates or means secured to the rim memberso that undesirable lateral movement is prevented as the two wheelmembers move radially under ruiming conditions.v The pneumaticcushioning member is preferably provided on its outside or insidecircumferential portion, or both, with an angular or V-shaped bearingportion adapted to coperate with an angular or V-shaped groove in theworking face of the adjacent member or rocking or otherwise mountedgripping shoes secured thereto.l r1`he grooved working vfaces into whichthe V-shaped portion of thecushioning device i'its have preferably asomewhat greater angle so as to minimize frictional slipping or wearunder running conditions.

In the accompanymg drawing showing in` a somewhat diagrammatic wayvarious illustrative embodiments of this invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section of one form of theinvention. Fig. 2 is a partialenlarged transversesec tion thereoftakensubstantially along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a similar enlarged detail section showing another embodiment;and

F ig. l is a similar view showing still another form.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and`2, an effective embodiment of theinvention may comprise the wheel center member havinga peripheralportion 4 which may be provided with a groove 6 to accommodate theresilient cushioningdevice andthe spokes 1 may support this portion onthe hub 2 of the wheel. Any suitable coperating members may be used tomount and rotate the wheel. such as the axle 26, to which the hub may besecured as by the nut 3 illustrated as threaded on the outer end of theaxle and locked in position with respect thereto and to the hub as bythe threaded key member 30. If desired a suitable brake drum 24 may besecured to the hub or axle as by the bolts and nuts 25. The wheel rimmember may be of any desired form and construction and may comprise thechanneled rim member 15, the radial projecting flanges 16 of which mayextend inward to the desired extent to secure the stiffness and strengthdesired in this part of the structure. Any suitable tire may be securedto the rim and a rubber cushioned tire 13 may be removably orpermanently secured thereto in any suitable way as through the tireflange 14. By rigidly and permanently connecting these parts together astrong and light wheel'rim' maintaining lateral alinement of theseparts. y

Thus these contact shoes have rocking movement substantially in theplane of the wheel and have a clamping or locking engagement with theinterposed resilient cushioning device Vwhen any substantial angularmovement takes place between the wheel members so as to clamp and lockthe parts against any substantial slipping movement by the cam action ofthese rocking shoes of which six to. twelve may be used. If desiredthese contact shoes may have an angular or V-shaped groove 8 in theirworkingfaces to have an alining action on the coperating pneumatic or,other resilient cushioning device, such as 5, .which is preferablyprovided with an angular outer edge 36 ,cooperating with the contactshoes 'and preferably having a slightly less angle so that the initialcontact Vtion or wear when the angular edge 7 ofthe pneumatic cushioningdevice is reinforced as with canvas or the like, as indicated in thedrawing. Goodresultsare secured by,

making the angle'of this V-shaped outer edge of the cushioning deviceabout degrees when it isnormally inllated and by making the V-shapedgroove in the rocking shoes to 110 degrees or so. Under these conditionsthe contact area et each shoe with the resilient cushioning deviceautomatically varies with each revolution of the wheel and still greaterranges of variation otl course occur when the wheel passes over a bumpor obstruction in the road, these movements and changes of contact areataking place gradually because of the resilient action oi Y thepneumatic cushioning device in such a way as to give a minimum oiit'ri'ctional slip and wear and at the same time to exert a desirablealiiiing action between the parts. Under running conditionsthcprogressive embedding of the contact shoesd in the cushioning devicecauses a gradual creep ot the shoes around the same, so that the shoescreep around the cushioning device to the extent of a number et inchesfor every mile that Vthe wheel travels,'thus equalizing theV wear andminimizing localized or destrucf tive action between, the parts. Itdesired,

the inner edge of the cushioning member 5 may be substantially circularin cross-section and cooperate with a peripheral groove which is in thewheel center member, this groove being advantageously of somewhatgreater radius than the cushioning member so as to make center contacttherewith in the first instance. The pneumatic cushioning device whichmay be in the form oi a single tube pneumatic tire of specialconstruction, for instance, may have an air valve such 27 arranged inone lateral side thereof and preferably having its attached rubberflange 42 cemented or vulcanized to the tire so that the valve issubstantially iiush therewith on the outside and interferes to a minimumdegree with the operation of the device while still allowinginlation' ofthis inner pneu matic tire or cushioning device when necessary.

guiding Vmeans to maintain the lateral alinement of the wheel membersunder operating conditions and this can be secured andV at the same timea desirable reinforcement of It is desirable toV have suitable lateral'4the wheel rim member insured by the useoit lateral guidingand closingplates suoli as 17, 22, whichinay tit snugly within the tire iiangeY 14or other parts of the rim member and be securely bolted in place as by'suitable nuts 12" and bolts 10, 28 passing through the rim iianges 16,as shown ,in

Figs. 1 and 2. These plates may be ot such thickness and strengthas togreatly add toV the rigidity of the wheel rim member and may also havethe added function of substantially inclosing the resilient cushioningdevice and its related working parts so as to protect the same againstdust, dirt, etc. These plates may be formed with substantially radialyportions adjacent the wheel.

center member so as to have a lateral yguiding actioiithereon and anysuitable bearing Vmembers may be interposed betweenV these parts, suchas the anti-friction graphitized rings or bearing members 20, 21ofgraphitized asbestos or'other suitable Vanti-'l'ricfV tion packingmaterial which may be screwed or otherwise secured to the parts andmaylit into annular retaining grooves in the peripheral portion 4 of thewheel center mem- Y ber as indicated. It desired, a central `coverplate, such as 18, may be bolted onV the outside of the wheel as by thebolts 19. so as to inclose the hub and give the wheel -a more finished'ornamental appearance and also add somewhat to the strength andstiffness of the wheel rim portion as well'as prevent accessV ofdirtVand dust to the hub. sired. anti-friction or packing members, such as23,V maybe interposed between the plate 22 and the brake drum 24; so as.to pre- Vvent, dirt or dust working into these parts while` stillallowing radial movement olf the two wheel members.V With thisVarrangement the radial movement or play between the resilieiitlyVconnected wheel members can take place with sutiicient freedom underrunning. conditions, while at the same time the strong or resilientguiding plates'pre-v .vent undesirable lateral movement of these wheelmembers and give thewheel desirable stiffness and rigidity so as toresistv any wabbling tendency which might be caused by irregular roadconditions.

It is in some cases desirable to have the resilient cushioning memberJr'eri'ned en both It deiio its inner end and outer 'circumferential.dges

with angular alining portions cooperating with Vshaped grooves iiithewheel nient' bers or attached contact shoes secured thereto, and Fig.vSishowsk such an arrangement in which the pneumatic cushioning' device31 is Jiormedr with a V-shape'd or angular Vinner edge 32 havingasomewhat rounded vportion e0 as indicated.

The V-shaped ias groove 34 in the wheel center member with g y whichthis portion of the cushioning device coperates mayV with 'advantagehave a;

somewhat greaterangle so thatfthe addiisoY tional 10 degrees or soofclearance causes the first contact `between these partsto occur near theeXtreme inner edge 40 of the reinforced cushioning device and have asimilarly desirable freedom from destructive frictional slip or Wearbetween these parts. In some cases the inflating valve for the pneumaticcushioning member may be arranged in the angular Working face thereof,the air valve 43 being shown vin this position vvith its outer portioncountersunk slightly in the angular bearing portion 7 of the cushioningdevice and normally covered by a resilient soft rubber cap 44-Wh1ch maybe forced in place to keep out dirt and render this part of thecushioning device substantially flush with adjacent portions thereof.The other parts of this Fig. 3 arrangement may be substantiallysimilarto the form of Wheel previously described, although the tire 13is shovvnV as formed With a clencher bead 37 to be more securely held inplace bythe tire flange 14. It is not in all cases necessary to have theangle of the V-shaped Working faces of such a cushioning devicesubstantially different from the V- shaped grooves in the coperatingmembers and infact an increased alining action is secured Whentheseangles are normally substantially the samein one or both circumferentialedges of the cushioning member, as shovvnwin Fig. 4. In that instancethe Working faces 39 of the contact members may have a V-shaped groove35 of substantially the same angle as'the V-shaped outer circumferentialedge l36 of the cushioning device and in the same Way the V-shapedgroove 38 in the periphery of the Wheel center member may have the sameangle as the angular surface or bearing portion of the innercircumferential edge 32 of the cushioning device.

This invention has been described in connection With a number ofillustrative embodiments, parts, proportions, forms, materials andmethods of construction and use, to the details of which disclosure theinvention is not of course to be limited, since what is claimed as newand What is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is set forth in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In resilient Wheels, a Wheel center member having a peripheralV-shaped groove, an encircling Wheel rim member provided with a tire, aninterposed pneumatic resilient cushioning device fitting Within theperipheral groove in said wheel center member, a series of cam contactshoes pivoted to said Wheel rim member to rock substantially in theplane thereof and' having Working faces formed with V-shaped groovescoperating with the outside of said cushioning device, said cushioningdevice having alining V-shaped outer and inner edges interposedresilient cushioning ldevice fitting Within the peripheral groove insaid Wheel center member, a series of cam contact shoes pivoted to oneof said Wheel members to rock substantially in the plane thereof andhaving Working faces formed Vwith V- shaped grooves coperating with saidcushioningdevice, said cushioning device hav-- ing V-shapedouter andinner edges of considerably less angular extent than the cooperatingangular grooves in said lcontact shoes and Wheel vcenter member tominimize friction andlateral guiding means to substantially maintain thelateral alinement of said Wheel members under running conditions. Y v Y3. .In resilient wheels, a Wheel ,center member, an encircling Wheel rimmember, an interposed pneumatic resilient cushioning device fittingWithin the peripheral groove in said Wheel center member, a series ofcam contact shoes pivoted to one of said Wheel members to rocksubstantially in the plane thereof and having Working faces formed WithV-shaped grooves coperating with said cushioning device, said cushioningdevice having an alining V-shaped edge of less angular'extent than thecoperating angular grooves in said contact shoes to minimiz'e friction.

4. In resilient Wheels, a wheel center member having a peripheralgroove, an encircling Wheel'rim member provided with a tire, aninterposed pneumatic resilient cushioning device fitting within theperipheral groove in said Wheel center member, a series of cam contactshoes pivoted to said Wheel rim member to rock substantially'in theplane thereof and having Working faces formed with grooves the sideWalls of which being normally spaced from the outside of said cushioningdevice to permit a slow creeping movement of the cushioning device underrunning conditions, lateral guiding and inclosing plates secured to saidWheel rim member and inclosing said cushioning device and bearingmembers on said Wheel center member engaging said guiding plates tosubstantially maintain the lateralr alinement of said Wheel membersunder running conditions and protect said cushioning device and adjacentparts.

vouter periplieries only with the peiipheries 5. A resilient wheel ofthe character described comprising a wheel centermember having 'anoutwardly facing trough, rim members having 'inwardly facing troughsencircling said wheel center member, said troughs having diver-gingwalls, a resilient member located betweenvsaid troughs 'and providedlwith vworking surfaces, said surfaces being oppositely inclined andadapted to normally contact adjacent their inner and of said troughs,and means disposed laterally oi said resilient member adapted tomaintain said wheel members in substantial lateral alinenient underrunning conditions.

G. fi resilient wheel of theY character described ('-oifipiisiiig awheel centerfmember having an outwardly facing trough, rim

`iii-eline' said wheel center member, said l wing diverging walls, akresilient provir'ied with working surfaces,the diveifi' "ice/oisaidwalls being greater than tie we" nation oi' said surfaces whereby onlythe inner and outer peripheries of saidv surfaces will normally7 contactwith thev periplieries Voi said troughs, and means disposed late 'allyof said resilient member adapted to maintain said wheelmembers insubstantial lateral alinement under running conditions, i i i Y 1 y 7.Ay resilient wheel of the character Ydeeliaving inwardly facing vtroughsineinier located between said troughs andV scribed Vcomprising a wheelcenter member, an encircling rim member, a cushioning de vice interposedbetweenrsaid rimand said center members having V-shaped inner andlmembers having'inwardly facing troughs encircling said wheel center-member, said troughs having diverging walls, a pneu-'1 matic memberlocated between said Vtroughs and providedv withworking surfaces, the

' divergence of' said walls being greater than the inclination of saidvsurfaces whereby only the inner and Youter peripheries of said surfaceswill normally contact with the peripheries offsaidltroughs', -meanscarried by ysaid pneumatic memberrand disposed between `said inner andouter peripheries for iiiiiating'and deilating said pneumaticmempiieumatic member adapted to' maintain said wheel members insubstantial lateral aline.- ment under running'conditions. i Y

TIMOTHY o. DoBBiNs.-

i ber,V and means disposed laterally'of said'V i

